Launch question/Going left

[Ed Carpenter]

Ok I took it all apart today. First i will admit I'm not an expert on suspensions. I'm still learning so bear with me.

Shocks are ok. Not broke or bound up

No broken welds or cracks

Axle tubes are not bent or twisted

Axles are ok

However on the passenger side the ladder bar bracket that mounts to the axle tube both holes upper and lower are eggshaped. You could grab the ladder bar and move it a little bit when it was mounted in the car. The drivers side you could not move at all. That side the holes are still true with no eggshape at all.

Also this may be where the prelaod comes in im not sure but on the drivers side where the ladder bar mounts to the bracket(rear) the upper heim joint has 5 threads showing with the bottom showing 9 threads. Now on the passenger side the upper has 2 threads and the bottom has 6. I'm no expert but doesn't the top one set the pinion angle only? Why would they be different? Isn't the bottom one used to set the housing straight in the car. Again I'm no expert I want to learn all this for future use. Thanks for all the input. Should i string the car from the front crossmember to the front mounts for the ladder bars? Ed

Also this is how I bought the car. If it's all jacked up I want to fix it right.

[Mike Pearson]

Thats your problem Ed. Repair the bolt holes by either the method that Wade suggested or the plate method like I used. Put your ladder bars side by side and make sure that you can slide a bolt through both heims on all 3 heims. I usually set my car up using some solid joints and some strut rods set to the same length as the ride height of the shocks. all of the bolts should slide in and out of the front and rear end brackets. The bars should have 2 degree down angle in the front in relation to the rocker panel. about the same on pinion angle. If everything is square and level you should not need any preload.

Good Luck!!

[Tod Lane]

Originally Posted by deuces wild

Ok I took it all apart today. First i will admit I'm not an expert on suspensions. I'm still learning so bear with me.

Shocks are ok. Not broke or bound up

No broken welds or cracks

Axle tubes are not bent or twisted

Axles are ok

However on the passenger side the ladder bar bracket that mounts to the axle tube both holes upper and lower are eggshaped. You could grab the ladder bar and move it a little bit when it was mounted in the car. The drivers side you could not move at all. That side the holes are still true with no eggshape at all.

Also this may be where the prelaod comes in im not sure but on the drivers side where the ladder bar mounts to the bracket(rear) the upper heim joint has 5 threads showing with the bottom showing 9 threads. Now on the passenger side the upper has 2 threads and the bottom has 6. I'm no expert but doesn't the top one set the pinion angle only? Why would they be different? Isn't the bottom one used to set the housing straight in the car. Again I'm no expert I want to learn all this for future use. Thanks for all the input. Should i string the car from the front crossmember to the front mounts for the ladder bars? Ed

Also this is how I bought the car. If it's all jacked up I want to fix it right.

The last pass we made with our Nova before we parked it for a couple decades it pulled the Heim joints out of the top of the ladder bars in the back when I hit 2nd gear.

Rear diff rotated up, pinion angle went to about 60 degrees, car turned hard left.

[NewHemi]

Glad you found it... that is one of those problems that can make you crazy, when you can't figure it out at the track, short of pulling the whole rear suspension, links etc out..

But now that you got it all out, and with the great help here, it sounds like your going to be back square pretty quick.

That is what makes this site so good. Ask and you will get answers... and at least one of them usually points it out...And you often get tips on lot of place to look too.

David
The New Hemi Guy

[GOAT69]

Ed, when you reassemle your rear end square it as if you were starting from scratch make sure it's settled before making any adjustments, use scales if you can get a hold of some. Any preload should be done on the scales & log corner weights, your best indicator of true suspension is how the car comes out of the water, it should be dead straight.

Carlo

[Ed Carpenter]

Update the front mounting holes for the ladder bars are eggshaped also.

Upon cleaning and further inspection I found the following on the left axle tube. The weld at the center section appears to be cracked. On a Dana 60 the top of the axles tube where the axle bolts up is fairly flat. When you have the drivers side axle tube level the left side(the one that is cracked) is twisted about 3/8 of an inch.

The pic with the ladder bars shows how different they were adjusted in the car. Taking the rear to chassis shop monday to get repaired. Will sleeve the ladder bar mounting holes and hopefully make Pine Valley. On a good note I took some measurments and everything is square in the car. Ed

[Jim Wahl]

Mike, you are the man!!! I have not had anything to do with a Super Stock suspension in over 20 years. If I were to do another one I would invite you over for dinner! I can testify Mr. Pearson knows his stuff and does all his own work. I have had the pleasure of watching his SS Camaro hang the hoops many feet in the air for a couple of years now while he has been participating in our Association races. Did I mention he was our 2008 S/SS Champion? I learned something from this thread. Jim